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Good Morning Vietnam
Oct. 14th, 2008 10:11 am(well, it had to be done, no?)
I have arrived in Hanoi, where I am in a youth hostel that appears to be full of Youth wearing very short shorts and discussing the bars they visited last night etc etc over breakfast (this is not necessarily the case with all youth hostels - the Beijing one was very quiet). Obviously this makes me feel incredibly old. Hostel does also have free breakfast, free internets, and cheap laundry service, so. It's rainy here but very warm (25deg already or something equally ridiculous).
Before leaving Beijing I spent Sunday visiting the Post Office (btw: thank you to lovely people who have sent me letters!) and sitting in Beihai Park looking at the lake and watching people dancing to some bloke playing Chinese songs on a harmonica. All very pleasant.
The train down from Beijing was fine; although crossing the border between about 1 and 3 am was less enjoyable. Lots of sleep-deprived foreigners wandering round Dong Dang station clutching forms. I was the first person called up to the health check desk, and thus got a little thermometer thing stuck in my ear; apparently my passing this thorough examination did for everyone else on the train, as they were all simply sold the little form without further inspection.
Plan for today: wander round Hanoi a bit, possibly visit Women's Museum this afternoon. Also book train ticket to Saigon for later in the week - my original plan involved a day spent in Hue en route, but I have concluded that this is getting into "it's Thursday so we must be in..." territory & I'd be better off pottering round Hanoi for another day instead. Especially as Bangkok to Singapore (in a couple of weeks) is going to be a bit of a rush.
Right, off I go to navigate another city, language, and currency...
I have arrived in Hanoi, where I am in a youth hostel that appears to be full of Youth wearing very short shorts and discussing the bars they visited last night etc etc over breakfast (this is not necessarily the case with all youth hostels - the Beijing one was very quiet). Obviously this makes me feel incredibly old. Hostel does also have free breakfast, free internets, and cheap laundry service, so. It's rainy here but very warm (25deg already or something equally ridiculous).
Before leaving Beijing I spent Sunday visiting the Post Office (btw: thank you to lovely people who have sent me letters!) and sitting in Beihai Park looking at the lake and watching people dancing to some bloke playing Chinese songs on a harmonica. All very pleasant.
The train down from Beijing was fine; although crossing the border between about 1 and 3 am was less enjoyable. Lots of sleep-deprived foreigners wandering round Dong Dang station clutching forms. I was the first person called up to the health check desk, and thus got a little thermometer thing stuck in my ear; apparently my passing this thorough examination did for everyone else on the train, as they were all simply sold the little form without further inspection.
Plan for today: wander round Hanoi a bit, possibly visit Women's Museum this afternoon. Also book train ticket to Saigon for later in the week - my original plan involved a day spent in Hue en route, but I have concluded that this is getting into "it's Thursday so we must be in..." territory & I'd be better off pottering round Hanoi for another day instead. Especially as Bangkok to Singapore (in a couple of weeks) is going to be a bit of a rush.
Right, off I go to navigate another city, language, and currency...
